I’ve really stunk at blogging lately… I hope most of you follow or just check out
my instagram feed. Although I can’t say
I’m really good at that either…
My last post was a month and a half ago. Since then we have celebrated Jeff &
Kevyn’s birthdays. A good wife/mom would
probably go back and write up a really awesome post for each of them, but I
know these two know how crazy life has been and can hopefully just settle for a
shout out in a random blog post. I love
you both so much! Muah!
My grandfather, who was 97, passed away at the end of August
and he too probably deserves his own post.
His funeral was beautiful and I’ve had several people comment to me on
how much they enjoyed it. Odd, I
know. It truly was a celebration of his
life.
Immediately following his burial, we headed to our annual
family reunion. I swear my grandfather
planned it like this. He knew everyone
would be flying in for the reunion and it would only make sense to combine the
two events. The reunion also probably
deserved its own post. You can view past reunions here and here.
I’m a slacker. I know.
So what’s up with us you ask? Where do I start???
Soccer. Natalie &
Kelby are again playing soccer (and are on the same team thanks to yours
truly!) and Kevyn is also playing this year.
Nat & Kelby have moved up a level and now play with goalies and a
lot more rules (that I don’t understand).
I am admittedly a loud cheering momma and all the extra rules really make
me self-conscious. I don’t know if I’m
cheering correctly. I need a rule book
or QR guide.
Kevyn now has several games under her belt and seems to be
enjoying soccer as well. Of course, the
first game I missed (volunteering at a fundraiser) she kicks her first goal. Of course.
She ended up kicking two that night.
Talk about wanting to immediately become under achieving member of
society and quit all volunteer work.
Just kidding. Maybe. She has since scored more goals none of which I've seen. The problem with both of them playing is that Jeff and I race back and forth between fields because games typically overlap. Ugh...
This is where I would like to insert pics of the girls in action, but it honestly has been a struggle for me to get any good pictures this season... I get so into the games I forget about my camera. I did manage to get this one of Kevyn that I like.
The same week that school started and soccer practices
started, cheer lessons also started. I
again managed to get Kelby, Kevyn and Natalie all on the same team. It’s probably not the best fit for each
individual child, but at this age they really don’t know any better. I really have no idea how we would be doing
it if they were on different cheer teams.
The most exciting news that I have to share is about my
sister. She has had a bummer of a summer
(you see what I did there). She was
hospitalized twice for an extended stay and came home each time a little weaker
than the last. As if fighting cancer
wasn’t enough, she has also had to fight infections as a result of her weak
immune system. She is seriously the
strongest person I know. In early
September she started a new med and although we don’t have the clinical data to
prove it, we as a family all feel it is working. Her lymphoma has produced some large tumors
in her lungs which causes a cough. When
the tumors shrink, the cough gets better.
When it grows, the cough gets worse.
Currently the cough is better.
Not gone, but better. Praise the
Lord! Annnd... all of her counts have stayed within limits that do not require her to receive any transfusions or decrease her dosages. Amazing! The plan is to do two cycles of
this med (2 months) and then another PET scan.
But before I get any text or emails in another month to question PET
scan results, I should also mention that NOTHING goes according to plan with
cancer. That use to really frustrate me,
but after some counseling from my sister of all people, I have surrendered to
the fact that God has a plan. And
although it might not be the plan we wish, it is the correct one.
Currently she is going to Houston 1-2 times a week and either Darren or
myself take her. Mom, aka Granny, stays
behind to be the bus driver of the previously mentioned activities and
chef. I have no idea how other cancer
patients who do not have a strong support system do it. It truly is a team effort with Holly having
to bear the brunt of it.
In other, lighter news…
It’s Fall y’all!
The first week of fall has been glorious! We started to decorate our front porch last
weekend. If you remember, last year we
were still not in our house so I just pinned images of fall porches. Not this year! Ideally I would like about 10 more pumpkins,
but this will have to do for now.
I also need to find a fall wreath. I really like this one I found on pinterest, but I'm having trouble sourcing it...
After soccer games Saturday morning, Jeff and I picked up
two items we purchased at an estate auction.
The high boy is going to get cleaned up and put in our master bedroom. We also purchased an industrial maple top table that we plan to use on our back porch.
Sunday was absolutely perfect in my opinion. After church and the gym, we spent the day at home getting things done around the house. And by “get things done,” I really mean eat more yummy goodness. Have any of you ever tried the two ingredient
pumpkin bread recipe? You must! You can thank me later. J
Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 350-375 degrees.
Combine cake mix with pumpkin in a large bowl.
Mix thoroughly -- batter will be VERY thick -- and transfer
to a baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray; bake in the oven until a knife
inserted into the center comes out clean. Refer to cake-mix box for pan size
and approximate bake time. Batter can be made into muffins, a bundt cake, or
into a loaf. I like to sprinkle a little
powdered sugar on top before serving.
Added bonus: it will make your house smell super yummy!
Added bonus: it will make your house smell super yummy!
So there ya go! We’ve
caught up AND I shared a recipe!
I hope to have a post up later this week to share a few
things our family is loving this fall.
~ becky
